A woman who was aged 20 when her womb was removed by consultant obstetrician Dr Michael Neary during the birth of her first and only child, who suffers from cerebral palsy, is to receive €425,000 in settlement of her High Court action for damages.
Ms Kathy Quilty became very psychiatrically disturbed as a result of her experiences during and after the birth of her son Kurtis at Our Lady Of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, in January 1996, and had for a time lived with the Simon Community and on the streets of Cork, the court was told.
Her distress was exacerbated by Dr Neary telling her mother he had had to remove Ms Quilty's womb because it had "a huge defect", Ms Quilty claimed. However, no such defect was found by pathologists subsequently, it was claimed.
Ms Quilty, now aged 28, of Beechwood Drive, Drogheda, had sued Dr Neary, of Brownstown, Monasterboice, Drogheda, and the North Eastern Health Board (NEHB). Under the settlement, which is without admission of liability, she is to receive a sum of €325,000 from Dr Neary and €100,000 from the board.
Ms Quilty has also taken a separate action against the board arising out of the circumstances of the birth of Kurtis on January 12th, 1996, at the Lourdes hospital. Kurtis suffers from cerebral palsy and is in care.
The action brought on his behalf is due to be heard in January.
When approving the settlement yesterday, Mr Justice de Valera was told that Ms Quilty had suffered severe trauma as a result of her treatment while giving birth at the Lourdes hospital. The judge was told she was just 20 years old and 29 weeks' pregnant when admitted. As a result of the trauma she experienced while giving birth, she had ended up depressed and living on the streets of Cork afterwards and experienced severe psychiatric difficulties.
Because of the seriousness of her psychiatric state after birth, Ms Quilty was regarded as psychiatrically unfit to initiate the legal proceedings herself and they were brought on her behalf by a solicitor, Ms Gillian O'Connor, the court heard. While Ms Quilty had since made a remarkable recovery and is now living in a flat in Drogheda, she was aware the court had taken custody of her case and will look after the money for her and she was happy with that, the judge was told by her counsel, Mr Denis McCullough SC, with Mr Bruce Antoniotti SC.
Ms Quilty regularly visits her child, accompanied by the child's father, and hoped that Kurtis would one day be able to live with her in her own home, Mr McCullough added. He said the amount to be paid by Dr Neary was in excess of a sum of €280,000 lodged in court, and the €100,000 to be paid by the board for nervous shock and trauma was a good offer in the circumstances.
Mr Justice de Valera said he was satisfied to approve the settlement, and said that Ms O'Connor, who had procured the flat for Ms Quilty and did extensive work on her behalf, deserved "the greatest credit and praise" for what she had done for Ms Quilty in the case.
After the hearing, Ms Quilty said there was an urgent need for a public inquiry into the carrying out of Caesarean hysterectomies by Dr Neary at the Lourdes hospital. She also paid tribute to the organisation Patient Focus for their support, and thanked her solicitors.
In her claim, Ms Quilty said she was admitted to the Lourdes hospital on January 11th, 1996. She was 29 weeks' pregnant with her baby in a transverse lie with a prolapsed arm. The following day, she claimed, a servant or agent of Dr Neary had performed a Caesarean section on her and in doing so made incisions on her abdomen and uterus which, she claimed, resulted in her suffering post partum haemorrhaging.
She claimed that, in the course of surgical intervention to deal with the haemorrhaging, Dr Neary, his servants or agents, had removed her womb.
She alleged the defendants had failed to notice she was in labour on admission to hospital, failed to properly manage the birth and failed to correct the lie of the baby prior to performing the Caesarean section.
Ms Quilty said she now has no prospect of having a normal baby. Her child had suffered catastrophic injuries as a result of negligence, she alleged. She had developed very serious psychiatric problems and was committed to a psychiatric institution on four occasions since 1996. She had attempted suicide a number of times, and also had a number of serious physical problems and was unable to work.
Ms Quilty also alleged Dr Neary had deliberately concealed from her the true reason for her injuries, and that this had added to her distress.
It was claimed Dr Neary had told Ms Quilty's mother that her daughter had a "huge defect" in her womb which necessitated its removal but that this alleged "huge defect" was not confirmed subsequently by pathologists.
It was also claimed by Ms Quilty that Dr Neary had said this "huge defect" was due to Ms Quilty's mother taking lactation medication when he knew, or ought to have known, that was not true and that there was no medical literature in existence to support such a theory.
Both Dr Neary and the NEHB denied the claims. Dr Neary denied Ms Quilty was admitted to the Lourdes hospital under his care in January 1996 and, without prejudice to that claim, pleaded he was asked by a consultant colleague to assist that colleague in treating Ms Quilty for a life threatening emergency after the colleague had performed a Caesarean section on Ms Quilty.
